The boy's body tensed when the first rays of sunlight slipped through the shutters and pleasantly warmed his skin. His eyelids twitched, and Senior Grey fully woke up, smoothly, without any jerks or loss of control.
"Practice really does work miracles." A faint smile unconsciously touched the corner of his lips.
As Grey recalled the first weeks spent in the now familiar brothel, he couldn't help but be amazed by his own progress.
Their first attempts at taking turns controlling the body had been incredibly clumsy. They stumbled at every step. Sometimes they lost control of a limb, sometimes they completely lost their sense of balance. They had quite literally learned how to walk all over again.
Back then, even the simplest training session would turn into a ridiculous nightmare. Now every movement came naturally to him, without the slightest effort.
Satisfied with his progress, he easily got out of bed and stretched a few times, loosening up his shoulders.
A quick morning workout, a short series of lunges, dodges, and the most basic knife techniques. Then it was time to sit at the table and go through the pile of papers that had built up. Financial reports, calculations for the future, a couple of rough drafts covered in sketches. All of it was vital, both for him and for Junior Grey.
After finishing his morning routine, he slung a simple bag over his shoulder and headed for the exit, where Sunny had already taken up his post.
The street brat had turned out to be surprisingly punctual. Without a single complaint, he had gotten up shortly after Grey and taken his place as a guard. He had even come up with duties for himself, seeing off rumpled guests suffering from brutal hangovers or offering them refreshing drinks.
His diligent attitude pleased Grey greatly.
"Good morning," he said cheerfully, patting the boy on the shoulder hard enough that he nearly choked from surprise. "Let's go shopping. We need to buy equipment."
Sunny immediately noticed something strange about his leader. He looked... different.
Even though he hadn't known Grey for long, he had never once seen such a warm and encouraging smile on his new boss's face. He had even patted him on the shoulder. Where was his usual calm and distant attitude? Where was that stone-faced expression?
Sunny felt an odd sense of unease from his friendliness, as if his commander had suddenly become someone else overnight. Almost creepy in his playfulness.
In the end, Sunny silently nodded and followed after Grey.
The market greeted them with its usual chaos: merchants shouting, the smell of spices and meat, the gleam of fabrics spread across the stalls. The boys moved quickly and with purpose, as if following a route planned in advance.
An axe. Knives. Rope. Bags.
Naturally, the merchants tried to cheat them at every turn, but Grey bargained with such ferocity and force that even seasoned traders flinched. He argued, threw out remarks with a predatory grin, and clung to every bronze coin like a drowning man grasping for a lifeline.
Sunny stared at him with admiration. His boss wasn't just smart. He could fight with words too.
Once their bags had been filled with everything they needed, they turned away from the noisy streets and headed toward the exit of the market quarter.
"B-Boss..." Sunny called out hesitantly, clutching the axe tighter against himself, its blade nearly as large as his head. "We're really... going into the forest... with this?"
Grey smiled lightly and carefree, so naturally that it only made the boy feel even more uneasy.
"We're not planning to," he replied, throwing the words over his shoulder. "We're already going. It'll be fine."
Sunny let out a confused grunt, not feeling reassured in the slightest. He pulled the sack of tools onto his shoulders and hurried after him.
The eastern gates greeted them with the cool morning wind and the sleepy gazes of the guards. Grey and Sunny reached them first, while five girls trailed behind at some distance. They stayed close together, unwilling to fall behind.
Grey calmly raised his hand, showing the Venus' Embrace token.
The guards exchanged surprised glances the moment they saw it. Since when had the most famous brothel in the city turned into an orphanage? One of them walked up to Grey, rubbing his chin before asking mockingly,
"How's Sophie doing? Has she asked about me?"
Grey smiled faintly.
"She's doing great. Come to the new show next week, you'll be pleasantly surprised by her performance." He gave the guard a vulgar wink before lowering his voice slightly and adding, "Make sure to bring plenty of coins. Something like this doesn't happen often. It'd be a shame to miss it."
The guard swallowed in anticipation and immediately ordered his companions to move away from the gates.
As soon as their small procession disappeared beyond the gates, the senior guard smacked his talkative colleague on the back of the head.
"Are you an idiot?" he hissed through clenched teeth.
"Huh?" the other dragged out in confusion, rubbing the sore spot.
"Why did you even open your mouth? Haven't you heard that brat's nickname?" The guard's voice carried a strange nervousness, as if he was actually wary of the kid.
"What nickname? He's just a child..." The man turned and looked at the departing group.
The senior guard spat on the ground.
"Just a child?! That's Alex Black Heart. They say Lady Veronika adopted him. It's been less than a month since he got put in charge of Venus' Embrace, and everyone already clutches their wallets in fear. Heaven help you if he catches the shine of coins. He'll turn into a greedy beast on the spot. Last week my brother and I went there to celebrate his anniversary. In half an hour we got skinned clean, and we didn't even touch the women!"
"He seemed pretty nice to me. He even told me when I should stop by," the second guard weakly argued back.
"Ha!" the senior guard sneered darkly. "Go ahead then. Be my guest if you want to end up penniless. As for me, I'll pray to every god out there for Lady Veronika to throw that little bastard out onto the street."
Meanwhile, the group continued deeper into the forest.
This place had not earned the name Thorn's Thickets for nothing.
Everything went smoothly at first, but the moment they moved away from the main road, the trails immediately began to thin out. The farther the group advanced, the denser the undergrowth became, until the path vanished completely, replaced by an endless wall of thorny bushes, twisted trees, and tangled branches.
At first, they moved one after another like beads strung on a bracelet.
Grey walked at the front like a true leader, carefully clearing the way with a kitchen knife. From time to time, he stopped to leave small marks on trees, crooked V-shaped cuts so they would not lose their way.
Recalling old lessons on orienteering from his school days, he carefully observed the forest around him. Anthills, patches of moss, small streams, all of it could serve as makeshift landmarks.
Although Grey understood perfectly well that this world was vastly different from the one he knew, it was still better than nothing.
Even if there were no ants here at all, and moss happened to grow only on the western or eastern side, discovering certain patterns would still give him useful clues.
"Look. That flower is called a Sun Follower. Its bud always points toward the sun and can help determine direction. We need to keep moving northeast," Junior advised after waking up.
"Got it," Senior replied shortly.
"We'd better find some kind of stream too. The estate is definitely built on higher ground, so we should be able to figure out the right direction by following the flow of water," he added while making his way through the thick undergrowth.
"And one more thing..." Junior said after thinking for a moment. "Stay away from those climbing vines. They aren't aggressive, but they feed on blood. The ground around them is loose. If you fall in, getting out with all our equipment will be difficult..."
Senior listened to his advice and repeated his words to the others, earning himself a few points of approval.
The journey was not an easy one.
Not only were they not entirely sure they were moving in the right direction, but roots constantly snagged at their sandals while branches repeatedly snapped back into their faces.
"Ow! Lily, be more careful!" Irene cried out when the succubus's invisible tail got caught on a branch.
"Sorry, sweetheart," Lily snorted. "I'm not used to babysitting two little girls."
She was still annoyed that she had been forced to share a room with them. She had spent the whole night tossing around on a bed that had become too cramped in a single evening, so her mood was far from pleasant.
A few minutes later, Grey heard her irritated voice again.
"Hey, crazy boy, are you sure Madam gave you the right direction and wasn't just messing with you?" Lily said while brushing spiderwebs off herself.
"Hah, well... I'll die first either way. So Your Ladyship won't have to endure the company of this humble..." Grey replied half-jokingly.
"I wish that wasn't just empty talk," Lily muttered under her breath.
The forest was quiet. Only the occasional rustling of leaves, the steady crunch of branches, and the group's small arguments disturbed the peace of this place.
They moved slowly and carefully.
Sunny gripped his axe as if he were seeking emotional support from the tool itself. He was extremely nervous.
Thorn's Thickets was not a welcoming place. And as someone born and raised in Thorn's Cloaca, he had heard more than enough horror stories from people who had ventured here. Even adventurers preferred fighting barbarians over spices rather than exploring this forest.
Eventually, they decided to split up while keeping each other within sight so they could cover a larger area. They could not afford to spend the whole day searching for that damned estate.
After giving out all the instructions, Grey stared ahead intently, searching for signs of human presence or some kind of clue along the way. The last thing he wanted was to get lost in here.
Finally, something caught his eye. It was a rotten wooden wheel. Judging by the lack of branches growing around it, the owner of the cart had probably spent quite some time dealing with the breakdown.
He bent down to examine the wheel more closely. Maybe he would be able to find traces of wagon tracks.
Suddenly...
A piercing scream tore through the silence.
"AAAAAAH!"
At that moment, Senior's heart dropped in fear.
He spun around sharply and saw Sheryl rushing toward him. Her eyes were wide with terror, and her long ears were pressed flat against her head as if for better aerodynamics. She charged forward with truly rabbit-like agility, leaping over roots and dodging branches.
Only after a few breaths did Grey finally see what had frightened her so badly. A panther was chasing right behind Sheryl.
Black as the night itself, its fur seemed to swallow the light around it. In the dark forest it was nearly invisible, yet it moved with terrifying speed.
The moment he saw its predatory grin, he knew he would not survive this.
"JUNIOR!" Senior Grey roared, making no effort whatsoever to hold back his voice in his panic.
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